Sally Ride through the years

Sally Ride, the first and youngest American woman to travel to space, died July 23, 2012, after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61.

(Credit: Getty Images)

This NASA handout shows astronaut Sally Ride at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ride, the first U.S. woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012, after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh U.S. space shuttle mission. (June 1983)

(Credit: AP)

Sally Ride, shown in a NASA portrait, became the first American woman in space when she was launched into orbit aboard the space shuttle Challenger as a member of the first 5-person crew. (June 18, 1983)

(Credit: AP)

Astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, communicates with ground controllers from the mid-deck of the earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. She has just opened one of the large lockers during the operation and monitoring of the continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) experiment on the left. (June 1983)

This photo shows the crew of space shuttle Challenger leaving for boarding at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Sally Ride and Robert Crippen are in front, John Fabian is in the middle and Norm Thagard and Rick Hauck are in the rear. (June 18, 1983)

(Credit: AP)

Astronaut Sally Ride, a specialist on shuttle mission STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the shuttle Columbia's flight deck. Ride became America's first woman in space 20 years ago when Columbia launched. (June 18, 1983)

(Credit: AP)

Space shuttle Challenger crewmember Sally Ride waves to reporters as the crew leaves to board the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Shuttle commander Robert Crippen is on her right and crew member John Fabian is partially visible. (June 18, 1983)

(Credit: AP)

Mission specialist Sally Ride, left, floats above the heads of David Leestma, center, and Kathryn Sullivan, as she chats with them in the crowded quarters of the shuttle Challenger. (Oct. 8, 1984)

(Credit: AP)

Astronaut Sally Ride is shown in Washington in this file photo. Ride, the first American woman in space in 1983, was following in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart. She christened the Spirit of Goodyear airship on March 15, 2000, for the first official ride. In 1929, Earhart, an aviation pioneer, helped launch the Goodyear airship Defender in Cleveland. (1986)

Keynote speaker Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Jane Gitlin, who started The Women's Record newspaper and spearheaded the breast cancer movement on Long Island, were honored at the Long Island Women's Agenda luncheon at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Jericho Turnpike, Woodbury. (June 11, 2001)

(Credit: AP)

Former astronaut Sally Ride shows a computer displaying the website for her science education program for girls, called Imaginary Lines, at the company's office in San Diego. Like the tiny parts of a circuit board, the science club aims to link girls who are passionate about science with each other and with women already in science careers. (April 25, 2002)

(Credit: AP)

In this file photo, former astronaut Sally Ride speaks to members of the media as NASA personnel set up astronomy equipment on the South Lawn of the White House in preparation for an event with President Barack Obama in Washington. Ride, the first American woman in space, died July 23, 2012, after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (Oct. 7, 2009)